DONCASTER coach Richard Horne admitted reaching the Championship Grand Final to add gloss to the ambitious club’s 75th anniversary celebrations exceeded expectations for the landmark campaign.
The South Yorkshire side go into Sunday’s showdown at London Broncos three years after coming up from the old League One from third place in the closing table by beating North Wales 18-6 in the play-off final.
Doncaster have built steadily and after successive eighth-place finishes in the old-style second tier, were fourth in this year’s merged version before home play-off triumphs over Barrow either side of a defeat at London, then an impressive 33-18 victory at Newcastle.
Horne, appointed back in June 2017, praised not only his players, but also the backing of Terry Bramall and Gavin Baldwin, chairman and chief executive respectively of Club Doncaster, the umbrella organisation who own both the city’s Rugby League and football club’s, and Carl Hall, chief executive of the former.
“I’m really happy for Terry, Gavin and Carl,” said former Hull FC star Horne. “We have been continually building, and we have achieved something that in reality, we probably didn’t think we would this year.
“And the players have been superb. They are all part-time and have made a lot of sacrifices in terms of family time, so to have got to the final is fantastic and a reward for that.
“We said in the build-up to the (preliminary final) game at Newcastle, we have got this far, so let’s do everything we can not to let it slip through our fingers, and the boys responded.
“And we certainly aren’t forgetting the supporters, who have been brilliant in getting behind throughout the season, and turned out in their numbers up at Newcastle to make it feel like a home game.”
Now League Leaders and 1895 Cup winners London stand in their way, and Horne said: “I think everyone knows what they are about. They are a very experienced, fast and powerful team.
“I think we’ve gone around 50 minutes toe-to-toe with them in the past, so it’s just about improving in that extra 30 where they seem to run back-to-back tries in to get that scoreline ticking over.
“We just need to make sure we put in a full 80-minute performance and, if we do that, we stand a chance of getting a result.”